User Agent and Assistive Technology Support Notes

Description

The intent of this technique is to allow a user to turn off sounds that start automatically when a Flash movie loads. The control to turn off the sounds should be located near the beginning of the page to allow the control to be easily and quickly discovered by users . This is useful for those who utilize assistive technologies (such as screen readers, screen magnifiers, switch mechanisms, etc.) and those who may not (such as those with cognitive, learning and language disabilities).

In this technique, an author includes a control that makes it possible for users to turn off any sounds that are played automatically. For maximum accessibility, the control can be added to the HTML document rather than to the Flash movie. The HTML control will communicate with the Flash movie through the ExternalInterface class. This means that the user can control the sound playback without having to interact with Flash content. If this is not practical, the control can be provided within the Flash content, provided that the control is keyboard operable, located early in the tab and reading order, and clearly labeled to indicate that it will turn off the sounds that are playing.

Examples

Example 1: Providing a button in the Flash to stop sound

This example demonstrates the addition of a button within the Flash movie to allow the user to stop sounds from playing. A class called SoundHandler is created which automatically starts playing an mp3 file when the movie loads.

Example 2: Providing a button in the HTML before the Flash object to stop sound

A class called SoundHandler is created which automatically starts playing an mp3 file when the movie loads. An HTML button is placed in the HTML document containing the Flash movie. When the button is clicked the action is communicated between the HTML page and the Flash movie via the Flash Player JavaScript API, resulting in the toggleSound method being called on the SoundHandler class.

Related Techniques

Tests

Procedure

For Flash movies that automatically start playing sound after loading:

Confirm that an HTML control that conforms to WCAG 2.0 is placed at the beginning of the document's tab order

If there is no HTML-based control, confirm that an accessible control is placed at the beginning of the Flash movie's tab order.

Activate the HTML or Flash-based control

Verify that audio playback stops

Expected Results

Check #1 or #2 is true, and #4 is true.

If this is a sufficient technique for a success criterion, failing this test procedure does not necessarily mean that the success criterion has not been satisfied in some other way, only that this technique has not been successfully implemented and can not be used to claim conformance.